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Keffiyeh Cafe and Basically Halal owner Zack Mahfouz
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Pistachio milk cake from Keffiyeh Cafe
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A Lotus Biscoff milk cake from Keffiyeh Cafe
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Petra Halal Food is located next door to Keffiyeh Cafe and Basically Halal and supplies the two businesses with halal ingredients. The trio of businesses have created a halal hub in the plaza at 316 N. Arch Road.
Zack Mahfouz has fond memories of his first trip to Jordan. Born in the Palestinian territories and a U.S. resident since he was 3, Mahfouz visited family members living in Jordan nearly a decade ago, and the captivating aromas, abundance of spices and buzzing street food scene that blends Arabic, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern influences made a lasting impression.
“That was a core memory to me,” says Mahfouz, now 22.
That experience, paired with his food-centric upbringing, served as the inspiration for Basically Halal, his North Chesterfield fast-casual eatery specializing in expertly seasoned shawarma. “Shawarma is so prominent [in Jordan],” he says. “Like, the amount of vape shops we have here is the amount of shawarma shops there, so it is on every corner. That just stuck out to me.”
Another popular sighting in the Middle East: dessert shops.
After introducing his first business with a co-owner in 2023, the James River High School alum recently debuted Keffiyeh Cafe. Located next door to Basically Halal at 316 N. Arch Road, the coffee shop and dessert bar opened March 30 on Eid al-Fitr, a Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan.
“Growing up here, you don’t see shawarma, you don’t see those super cool [Middle Eastern] dessert shops,” Mahfouz says. “I was like, ‘You know what? This needs to be here.’ This is the natural setup over there — grocery, some sort of dessert and coffee shop, shawarma. It’s that, and then times a thousand; it’s everywhere.”
The small plaza on Arch Road has become a hub for halal foods, those permitted under Islamic dietary laws. Next door to Mahfouz’s businesses is Petra Halal Food, a halal grocery owned by Ahmed Habahbeh that has been operating for over 20 years. Mahfouz describes Habahbeh as an uncle and says he has been shopping at Petra ever since he can remember.
“He’s the GOAT; everyone knows the owner, Ahmed. ... All the cool products we get [at Basically Halal and Keffiyeh Cafe], we get through the grocery store; it makes it perfect,” he says.
After finding his stride at Basically Halal and becoming the sole owner last year, Mahfouz began to consider expansion. He says he saw the vacant storefront between the market and Basically Halal as an opportunity waiting to be seized. Over the course of nine months he converted the space, thanks to Habahbeh, rent free.
Mahfouz’s first job was at Mediterranean-inspired fast-casual chain Cava, and he credits the gig with teaching him the fundamentals of food safety and logistics. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while still in high school, Mahfouz launched a side hustle that quickly turned profitable. His lifelong connection to halal food, paired with his entrepreneurial spirit, helped his vision for a restaurant unfold.
“I’ve been cooking most of my life,” Mahfouz says. “When you grow up in a Middle Eastern household, there’s a lot of food going on. Especially if you have Middle Eastern friends, you’re eating 24/7, that is the main event, always. The most important thing is the food.”
At Basically Halal, he says, “Everything we make, all our sauces, are [prepared] in-house. We use a lot of premium ingredients; we get a lot of things from Lebanon like turnips, our pickles, our dibs ar-rumman, that’s the pomegranate molasses. We’re implementing as much authentic culture as we can into our recipes.”
Operating through a walk-up window and open daily, Keffiyeh Cafe’s focus is specialty coffees and desserts.
The beverage menu features a pistachio latte — a blend of espresso, milk and pistachio cream — and a honey-cinnamon latte. Other options include the Lotus latte, sweetened with housemade Lotus Biscoff cookie cream.
On the dessert front, the team at Keffiyeh, which includes Mahfouz’s father, are whipping up milk cakes, a Middle Eastern version of tres leches cake featuring a light sponge soaked in condensed milk and topped with either pistachio crumbles or chunks of Lotus Biscoff cookies. The viral Dubai Strawberry dessert is also available. The social media sensation features fresh strawberries in a cup layered with luscious Belgian milk or white chocolate, pistachio cream, and crispy kataifi (shredded toasted phyllo dough).
Mahfouz says they also hope to add the shredded phyllo, cheese and syrup confection kunafa to the menu, describing it as “the most Palestinian dessert you can get.”
Other options at the cafe include acai bowls and breakfast sandwiches such as an egg, zaatar and tomato croissant. Mahfouz emphasizes the importance of using authentic ingredients and staying committed to his culture.
“Keffiyeh is the [headdress] we wear, the Palestinians, it’s the one with the white and the black stripes,” he explains. “I named the cafe after that because of the Starbucks situation [the cafe chain has been the target of boycotts due its alleged stance in the Israel-Gaza conflict] ... and just to show off some more Palestinian heritage.”
Keffiyeh Cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday through Thursday, from 7 a.m. to noon Friday and from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday. Basically Halal is open from from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday through Thursday and from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday.
